Constitutional Justice M. Guntur Hamzah and Chief Registrar Muhidin at the ruling hearing of the judicial review hearing of Law No. 14 of 2005 on Teachers and Lecturers, Friday (4/14/2023). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — The interpretation of Article 51 paragraph (1) of Law No. 14 of 2005 on Teachers and Lecturers on the allowance for lecturers who are taking study leave has normatively accommodated various kinds of allowance, both for active lecturers and those taking study leave. The statement is part of the Constitutional Court’s (MK) legal considerations, read out by Constitutional Justice M. Guntur Hamzah. The ruling hearing for the material judicial review of the Teacher-Lecturer Law took place on Friday, April 14, 2023 in the plenary courtroom.

Petitioners Gunawan A. Tuada and Abdul Kadir B. questioned the discontinuation of allowance for lecturers taking study leave. Justice Guntur said the Law has regulated lecturers’ rights of salary for minimum living cost as well as social welfare guarantee. Meanwhile, other rights are regulated in technical regulations under the Law. He added that Article 51 paragraph (1) of the Teacher-Lecturer Law does not regulate the discontinuation of lecturers’ professional allowance. Instead, it normatively provides a legal basis to ensure that lecturers receive their financial rights following statutory legislation—basically salary for minimum living cost as well as social welfare guarantee.

“Moreover, the lecturer’s functional allowance is disbursed, so the fulfillment of financial rights as referred to in the a quo Law is guaranteed and implemented equally based on justice,” Justice Guntur said while reading out the Decision No. 111/PUU-XX/2022.

Concretely, he added, the lecturers’ professional allowances is not discontinued. Article 30 letter d of the Regulation of the Minister of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform (Permenpan) No. 17 of 2013 on Lecturer’s Functional Position and Credit Scores, State Gazette of the Republic of Indonesia No. 466 of 2013 stipulates that professional allowance for lecturers taking study leave is discontinued only after the lecturer in question takes study leave continuously for more than 6 months.

“Therefore, starting from the seventh month [of the study leave], the professional allowance is discontinued. It is not only discontinued due to study leave, but may also for other reasons such as temporary dismissal from civil service, full assignment outside the academic position of lecturer, and leave outside state’s responsibility. Furthermore, as mandated by Law No. 14 of 2005, arrangements on lecturers’ rights, especially related to financial rights of lecturers taking study leave, are further regulated in technical laws and regulations under the a quo Law,” Justice Guntur explained.

He added that lecturers who have completed their studies would receive professional allowance after they return to their academic position. “Therefore, lecturers taking study leave who then actively performs their academic profession will receive lecturer professional allowance,” he said.

Different Treatments

The Court asserted that different treatments across higher education institutions, both those under the Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education or other ministries/agencies, in facilitating further studies and study leave must be coordinated and synchronized at policy level, so that the implementation would be even in all ministries/agencies, by prioritizing the effectiveness of study leave and the welfare of lecturers taking study leave so that they can complete their studies optimally and on time.

The Court also emphasized that monitoring and evaluation are imperative, using an integrated platform or information system that is well managed and functions accordingly. The system must not only be completed but maintained, monitored, and quality-checked so that it would promote equal treatment to improve lecturers’ professionalism. In addition, in order to optimize the capabilities of academic personnel in carrying out the three pillars of higher education, lecturers should not be burdened with overwhelming administrative tasks, so that they can focus more on developing their academic competency optimally in realizing national education goals. “As such, based on the aforementioned elaboration, the Court declares the Petitioners’ arguments an issue of implementation, not of constitutionality,” Justice Guntur asserted.

“[The Court] rejects the entire petition of the Petitioners,” said Chief Justice Anwar Usman reading out the verdict.

Also read:

Suspension of Certification Allowance for Studying Lecturers Questioned

Ministry of Education and Culture: No Allowance for Studying Lecturers Not Violating Rights

Govt’s Expert: Lecturers on Study Leave Do Not Receive Allowances

The Petitioners argued that the a quo article was implemented as temporary suspension of payment of professional allowances for lecturers from 2009 to 2022. As a result, they lost their financial rights while pursuing further studies at a number of higher education institutions in Indonesia while taking study leave. This interpretation was not based on the best interests of lecturers taking study leave, especially those who were currently or would be pursuing further studies at their own expenses entirely or partially or on a scholarship even though they still had some workload for their position. Ideally, as long as lecturers have workload for their lecturing position, they deserve lecturer certification allowances.

Therefore, the Petitioners requested that the Court grant the petition and declare Article 51 paragraph (1) of the Teacher-Lecturer Law along the phrase “in carrying out professional duties” unconstitutional and not legally binding if not interpreted to mean “in carrying out professional duties, also including lecturers taking study leave.”

Author       : Sri Pujianti
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR            : M. Halim
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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